Abstract
There are major concerns about the suitability of immersive virtual reality (VR) systems (i.e., head-mounted display; HMD) to be implemented in research and clinical settings, because of the presence of nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, and instability (i.e., VR induced symptoms and effects; VRISE). Research suggests that the duration of a VR session modulates the presence and intensity of VRISE, but there are no suggestions regarding the appropriate maximum duration of VR sessions. The implementation of high-end VR HMDs in conjunction with ergonomic VR software seems to mitigate the presence of VRISE substantially. However, a brief tool does not currently exist to appraise and report both the quality of software features and VRISE intensity quantitatively. The Virtual Reality Neuroscience Questionnaire (VRNQ) was developed to assess the quality of VR software in terms of user experience, game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. Forty participants aged between 28 and 43 years were recruited (18 gamers and 22 non-gamers) for the study. They participated in 3 different VR sessions until they felt weary or discomfort and subsequently filled in the VRNQ. Our results demonstrated that VRNQ is a valid tool for assessing VR software as it has good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity. The maximum duration of VR sessions should be between 55 and 70 min when the VR software meets or exceeds the parsimonious cut-offs of the VRNQ and the users are familiarized with the VR system. Also, the gaming experience does not seem to affect how long VR sessions should last. Also, while the quality of VR software substantially modulates the maximum duration of VR sessions, age and education do not. Finally, deeper immersion, better quality of graphics and sound, and more helpful in-game instructions and prompts were found to reduce VRISE intensity. The VRNQ facilitates the brief assessment and reporting of the quality of VR software features and/or the intensity of VRISE, while its minimum and parsimonious cut-offs may appraise the suitability of VR software for implementation in research and clinical settings. The findings of this study contribute to the establishment of rigorous VR methods that are crucial for the viability of immersive VR as a research and clinical tool in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology.
Highlights
Immersive virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a novel tool for neuroscientific and neuropsychological research (Bohil et al, 2011; Parsons, 2015; Parsons et al, 2018)
This study showed that the virtual reality neuroscience questionnaire (VRNQ) is a valid and reliable tool which assesses the quality of VR software and intensity of VR induced symptoms and effects (VRISE)
Our findings support the viability of VR sessions with a duration up to 70 min, when the participants are familiarized with VR tech through an induction session, and the quality of the VR software meets the parsimonious cut-offs of VRNQ
Summary
Immersive virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a novel tool for neuroscientific and neuropsychological research (Bohil et al, 2011; Parsons, 2015; Parsons et al, 2018). A primary concern is the presence of adverse physiological symptoms (i.e., nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, and postural instability), which are referred to as motion-sickness, cybersickness, VR sickness or VR induced symptoms and effects (VRISE) (Sharples et al, 2008; Bohil et al, 2011; de França and Soares, 2017; Palmisano et al, 2017). Research has shown that VRISE induce significant decreases in reaction times and overall cognitive performance (Nalivaiko et al, 2015; Nesbitt et al, 2017; Mittelstaedt et al, 2019), as well as substantially increasing body temperatures and heart rates (Nalivaiko et al, 2015), which may compromise physiological data acquisition. VRISE appear to confound the reliability of neuropsychological, physiological, and neuroimaging data (Kourtesis et al, 2019)
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